Jobless numbers level off in March

Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady for March, the first time that’s happened in 20 months, according to state labor officials.

The state Department of Labor today reported a seasonally adjusted 9.2 percent jobless rate for March. That's the same as the revised rate for February.

The March jobless rate of 9.2 percent was 3.6 points higher than in March 2008. Georgia’s unemployment rate also remained above the national rate of 8.5 percent for the 17th consecutive month.

Despite losing 185,900 jobs during the past year, Georgia companies managed to add 3,000 new jobs in March, the first monthly increase since October of 2008. A majority of the new jobs were created in the retail and hospitality sectors, the labor department said.

Still, the Athens metropolitan area of Clarke, Madison, Oconee and Oglethorpe counties had 1,400 fewer jobs in March compared to March 2008, a 1.6 percent decrease.

Currently, 442,758 unemployed Georgians are looking for work, an increase of more than 64 percent since March 2008. Of that number, 172,947, or around 39 percent, are receiving state unemployment insurance benefits, while another 84,700 are receiving federal emergency unemployment compensation.